Nashville Predators » CBAhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/predators
The TennesseanSun, 16 Mar 2014 15:30:03 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6Fisher proceeds with caution on CBAhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/predators/2012/10/18/fisher-proceeds-with-caution-on-cba/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/predators/2012/10/18/fisher-proceeds-with-caution-on-cba/#commentsThu, 18 Oct 2012 15:49:47 +0000JOSH COOPER, The Tennesseanhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/predators/?p=9280Now that the sheen of the NHL’s offer to the NHLPA in Tuesday’s labor negotiations has worn off, the negotiating on the deal will likely begin today with both sides scheduled to meet in Toronto. While the deal is a much better offer than any others the league has put forth, it still asks for large concessions to the players from the previous CBA. In the final year of the last CBA, the players’ share was 57 percent of hockey-related revenue. This decreases that number to 50 percent. The offer increases the years of service to hit unrestricted free agency and offers a max number of years on contracts.

We asked Predators forward Mike Fisher about some of this.

“Oh it’s way worse, it’s not even close in a comparison as far as real dollars. If you look at the next six or seven years in the next CBA they proposed, we’re giving upwards of $2 billion to the owners, which is a lot. We know we’ve helped grow the game and so have they. Two billion dollars over the next seven years is crazy . We’re not asking for more. We’re not asking for 63 percent or more than we got, but also, we’re not going to roll over,” he said.

Fisher did tout the owners concessions in their proposal as a positive move in negotiations. But more needs to happen for a deal to move forward.

“I think this is a good step to start negotiating,” Fisher said. “I think there was so much talk on secondary issues. We know both sides want to speed up the process. Hopefully this has done that”

]]>http://blogs.tennessean.com/predators/2012/10/18/fisher-proceeds-with-caution-on-cba/feed/0Gill and Gaustad weigh in on proposalhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/predators/2012/10/17/gill-and-gaustad-weigh-in-on-proposal/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/predators/2012/10/17/gill-and-gaustad-weigh-in-on-proposal/#commentsWed, 17 Oct 2012 18:52:23 +0000JOSH COOPER, The Tennesseanhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/predators/?p=9276Below are some thoughts on the NHL’s latest collective bargaining proposal by Predators defenseman Hal Gill and forward Paul Gaustad. Both have been two of the more informed, and opinionated, Nashville players on the matter throughout the process.

Hal Gill

What is your take on the proposal?

“I just saw the whole proposal online. It looks kind of dummied down. I don’t know if you read the old CBA, but you read through it and there’s a lot in it and there’s a lot of fine print. That was what the big concern is – going through it and looking at the finer points. You can say 50-50 in hockey-related revenue, but HRR is a big topic, and I know they’ve been discussing that a lot. The finer points of that are more what I think they’re concerned about with what they’re looking into now.”

I’m excited because it seems like it’s a good point for discussion. Some of the concerns we had about revenue sharing, they’re willing to do. I don’t know the finer points of the details, but it looks like something we can hopefully work with. Obviously, everyone wants to make more money out of the deal, and it is a huge pay-cut on our half, but hopefully something can come out of it where we start talking and start talking for real as opposed to in the past where it was, ‘This is our way, or we’re locking you out.’ It seems like maybe there’s a little room to talk, so that’s exciting in that respect.

Is this the framework of a deal?

“I think it is a framework. Obviously we’re not happy with the percentage, but there are some other things that are good about it. And like I said, I don’t have the lawyer speak and fine print the lawyers have to look over and explain to us, but it looks like something that is workable and something that maybe we’re a little closer to being on the same page.”

Were you on the conference call with executive director Don Fehr? What are other players saying?

“I missed the call, but I think I’m probably right with everyone else with saying, ‘This looks like we can do something with it, but we’re not really sure with how it works out.’

There are some things like the ‘Make Whole’ provision that’s a new thing. The finer points need to be explained. It’s not just something that you just throw down and say, ‘This is a good idea.’ It needs to be broken down and we need to understand everything. It’s also another seven-year deal. The way I see it, I’ll be done playing by then, but it’s, ‘We’ll give you this until we lock you out again’ which seems to be the theme. I’d be a little more leery of it if I was a younger guy.”

Though the league made some concessions, is this a worse deal for the players than the one you had in the last CBA?

“You can say, ‘it’s 50-50 across the board’ and they use across the board as terminology. But across what board? That needs to be clarified. It’s not just as simple as saying, ‘We’ll do 50-50.’ It’s not a bar bet. There’s a lot that goes into every decision that’s made. Those are the things that are a ‘Make Whole’ provision that looks like they would try to ease the transition from the last CBA to this one, which would be good. I think that’s what we’ve been looking for, is not taking an immediate pay-cut, but they say there’s no rollback. There’s no sense in saying there’s a rollback. We had a rollback last time because we didn’t have a salary cap. Now with a cap system, you just change the percentage and that is the rollback. For them to say there’s no rollback, it sounds almost using a buzzword of, ‘We’re not going to make you roll it back.’ Yeah you are because we’re losing seven percent.

For most people they’re looking at it and saying, ‘Oh cool, they’re not going to lose any money.’ It’s a different ballgame now. For them to mention there’s no rollback is funny to me. There’s a lot of things in there … it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. The way I see it is it’s a starting point. I hope they can sit in a room and negotiate and work out all the finer details and get us on the ice. It sounds great, we have a camp and we go. That’s exciting, but it’s also a little bit of a tease. As a hockey player you look at it and go ‘awesome, we can play.’ But then you have to sit down and look at it and make sure you’re not thinking with your heart.”

Paul Gaustad

What is your take on the proposal?

“I think it’s a positive thing. The proposal is a good thing and that talks are continuing. What Don (Fehr) said the other day is correct that you have to take time to digest it and look over it and see what the best thing is for the players in the league. It’s always good that talks are continuing and a proposal is out there. I think today they’re dissecting it and guys are talking. Overall, I think guys view it as positive that there is a proposal.”

And there’s still the possibility to get 82 games in?

“I think it’s a good thing that there’s the possibility for a full season. You don’t want to hurt the fans at all. They come to expect an 82-game season and that’s what the players expect. It’s a good thing, but I also think we have to make sure we do it properly with scheduling and that the quality of on ice games is as high as it was in the past and make sure it’s done correctly.”

]]>http://blogs.tennessean.com/predators/2012/10/17/gill-and-gaustad-weigh-in-on-proposal/feed/0Transcript of Bettman news conferencehttp://blogs.tennessean.com/predators/2012/10/16/transcript-of-bettman-news-conference/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/predators/2012/10/16/transcript-of-bettman-news-conference/#commentsTue, 16 Oct 2012 18:07:29 +0000JOSH COOPER, The Tennesseanhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/predators/?p=9257Below is the transcript of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman’s news conference after the league put forth a collective bargaining proposal to the NHLPA today in Toronto.

Good afternoon, everyone. Bill Daly and I just spent the last hour with Don and Steve Fehr, and I would like to briefly report to you on what was discussed. As I think all of you know we have been extremely disappointed, and that’s an understatement, that we’ve been unable to get these negotiations on the essential elements moving forward. So, today, we began by discussing with Don and Steve that if we were to drop the puck on November 2nd for the start of the regular season, we could preserve an 82-game schedule for the regular season and play full playoffs as we normally do and be done before the end of June. We very much want to preserve a full 82-game season, and in that light, we made a proposal, an offer, really that is our best shot at preserving an 82-game regular season and playoffs, and this offer that we made obviously was contingent upon having an 82-game regular season. A lot of you know we don’t negotiate publicly, and I’m not going to break that habit because I don’t think it’s constructive. The fact of the matter is, we offered a 50-50 share of HRR, hockey related revenues, and we believe we addressed the concern that players have about what happens to their salaries as a result in this year of reducing the percentage from 57 to 50%. Beyond that, I don’t want to get into the substance other than to say we believe that this was a fair offer for a long-term deal, and it’s one that we hope gets a positive reaction so that we can drop the puck on November 2nd — which backing up, entails at least a one-week training camp. So we have about nine or ten days to get this all put to bed, signed, sealed and delivered, in order for this offer to be effective and for us to move forward. We hope that this effort that we’ve undertaken today would be successful because we know how difficult this all has been for everybody associated with the game, particularly our fans.

How confident are you that this is going to go forward?

Well, we certainly hope it will. We’ve given it our best shot.

What was the reaction?

The reaction was that they obviously need to study it, and so we told them that we’re available to them. But they’re going to need some time to review it, and I respect that portion of the process. Obviously, they’ve got to understand the offer and get comfortable with it.

Was it just the core economic issues in terms of the offer?

We had a number of significant elements that we believe can and should serve as the basis of a deal to get us playing hockey.

Why do this today?

Because if we want to have an 82-game regular season, if we want to preserve an 82-game regular season and you back up the timetable in terms of the schedule, we needed to do it. By the way, in terms of the schedule, so everybody understands, the compression that would be involved is one additional game every five weeks. Beyond that, we don’t think it would be good for the players or for the game. But if you look at what our ability would be to schedule 82 games and you work back from November 2nd, if we didn’t do it now, if we didn’t put an effort on the table that we thought was fair and could get us playing hockey, if we didn’t do it now, then it probably wasn’t going to happen for a while. Because, again, it’s done in the spirit of getting a full season in.

Is it 50-50 across the board?

It’s 50-50 across board.

How long of a contract will this be?

I’m not going to get into the specifics. We proposed a long-term contract. We think that’s in everybody’s interest. We think that’s what our fans want.

Can you explain how you address the roll back or the escrow?

There is no roll back, and I’m not going to get into the specifics. It would not be constructive at this point in time. The union has some work to do, and we respect the process. I probably have gone further than I usually have in terms of discussing what we’ve proposed than at any other time. But I’m not comfortable going any further. I’m more concerned about the process right now and getting us back on the ice.

How worried are you they might say no and more of the season will be lost?

I don’t even want to go there.

Is the league amenable to playing an abbreviated schedule?

We’re focused on getting the puck dropped on November 2nd and playing a full 82-game regular season and full playoffs. That’s what this offer is all about.

Have you made plans to meet later in the week?

We’re going to be on-call to them. They have some work to do internally. Obviously, we didn’t put this proposal, this offer, together overnight, and they’re going to need a little time to review it. I’m hoping that review will get us to a positive and constructive place.

]]>http://blogs.tennessean.com/predators/2012/10/16/transcript-of-bettman-news-conference/feed/0Statement from Don Fehr on CBA negotiationshttp://blogs.tennessean.com/predators/2012/06/29/statement-from-don-fehr-on-cba-negotiations/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/predators/2012/06/29/statement-from-don-fehr-on-cba-negotiations/#commentsFri, 29 Jun 2012 20:59:19 +0000JOSH COOPER, The Tennesseanhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/predators/?p=8786Below is a statement from NHLPA Executive Director Don Fehr on the CBA negotiations with the NHL that occurred today.

“Eight Players on the Negotiating Committee, along with NHLPA staff, met with Commissioner Gary Bettman, four NHL owners and a number of League staff and legal counsel at the League’s office in New York. Following today’s meeting, we will review the NHL’s initial presentation with the Players’ committee before reconvening for further talks later next week.”

“Members of our League Office staff and several of our owners met
today with the NHLPA and various members of the players’ negotiating
committee at the League Office in New York. The meeting was very cordial
and we hope it was constructive.

“Before breaking, the parties discussed follow-up steps and confirmed
plans for future meetings. We have nothing further to report at this
time.”